Friday, September 04, 2009

Before I begin with this week's Know your lgbt history segment, I would like to point something out that caught my attention. If you want to skip it, then pan down to the Know Your LGBT History segment on Windows - the worst off-kilter lesbian movie I have ever seen.

At the National HIV Conference this week, the Centers for Disease Control said the following:

Gay and bisexual men account for half of new HIV infections in the U.S. and have AIDS at a rate more than 50 times greater than other groups. . .

. . . Gay and bisexual men account for half of new HIV infections in the U.S. and have AIDS at a rate more than 50 times greater than other groups, according to Centers for Disease Control & Prevention data presented at the National HIV Prevention Conference this week in Atlanta.

This is bad news to almost everyone except for our friend Peter LaBarbera, who naturally used this news for his own benefit:

The issue in this ongoing “culture war” is not the cause of homosexual “orientation” — or merely the legality of “same-sex marriage.” It’s homosexual behavior itself — and whether government should promote it or discourage it, or be neutral. I say discourage it, since the evidence keeps pouring in that conduct which has been proscribed as immoral down through centuries of Judeo-Christian tradition is also highly dangerous. Now if the CDC will only stop blabbering on about “homophobia” and start telling the truth — that the rectum is not a sexual organ, after all, and that we must take tough measures against “gay” promiscuity — America will become a healthier place.

Never mind that he shows his ignorance by taking in part of the CDC's statement and ignoring the part that doesn't suit his agenda.

The "blabbering about homophobia" that LaBarbera alludes to is this part of the article that he conveniently omitted in his attack on lgbts:

Many conference speakers, including ranking officials with the CDC, said getting rid of stigma, including homophobia, against those with HIV/AIDS is also a crucial part in reducing incident rates.

LaBarbera also omitted this part of the article:

( U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen) Sebelius also noted that gay and bisexual men, as well as African Americans and Latinos, continue to be hardest hit by the disease in the U.S. Steps are being taken by the Obama administration to target these populations specifically, she said.

“We’re targeting our efforts at high-risk groups like African Americans. Today, African Amer-icans make up just a tenth of the population. But they account for nearly half of new HIV infections. One in 30 African-American women will be diagnosed in her lifetime. One in 16 African-American men will be diagnosed with HIV. In 2005, the CDC reported that in five major cities, almost half of all African-American gay men were HIV positive. The situation is also dire for Latinos,” she said.

“Think about that. Imagine if it were half the straight white women in Atlanta. Wouldn’t we be calling this a national emergency? Shouldn’t we be?” she said to a cheering crowd.

I know LaBarbera wouldn't dare denigrate the Latino and African-American community for their unfortunate rate of HIV infections in the same manner that he denigrates the lgbt community. Not to worry, though. I'm sure enterprising racists will talk about the supposed "inferiority" of blacks and Latinos.

After all, you just can't keep hogs away from the trough, whether they be racists or homophobes.

Sorry about that for those expecting a Know your lgbt history segment. Now onto it . . .

Know your lgbt history - Windows

It has been said that Windows (1980) is such a bad movie that it will never make it to DVD. Hell, it's hard to find it on VHS.

And those who say these things are absolutely correct. I never thought it was possible to see a movie that simultaneously disgusted and bored me.

The repulsiveness starts off before you even have time to get acquainted with the characters.

Talia Shire plays a woman who is attacked when she is entering her apartment. The intruder makes her partly disrobe and, while holding a knife to her neck and mouth, makes her say "sounds" in a tape recorder.

The scene is disgusting. Why the intruder does this to her is even worse. He was paid by Shire's friend, played by Elizabeth Ashley, to make Shire do these things. She paid the man to commit the crime so that Shire would run to her for support. When this doesn't work, Ashley just listens to the tape of Shire's violation to the point where she can repeat the entire sequence by memory (and you just know that she will).

As you can guess, Ashley is secretly in love with Shire. When Shire moves to another apartment, Ashley commences to spy on her from telescope in a loft across the way. As Shire slowly begins a romance with a detective investigating the case, Ashley begins to go insane, using a knife to "express herself" on Shire's cat, neighbor, and the psychiatrist who is starting to recognize her insane behavior.

First of all, what's with off-kilter women in movies? Why can't they just use a gun? Do they always have to attack people with knives. And not just any knife, but one of the long, slender knives that you just know was not made to cut meat.

Anyway, Windows was highly controversial. That and the fact that it was just a hideously made movie sunk its chances at the box office.

There is so much to dislike about this movie. For one thing, it just didn't make any sense. Ashley's character was rich, vivacious, and even has a sexy breezy way of talking.

Shire's character was meek, mousy, plain, and jumped at her own shadows. To make matters worse, Shire resurrected a bunch of those ugly berets she wore in Rocky.

Shouldn't it have been the other way around with Shire chasing after Ashley?

Secondly, the plotlines are dumb. The intruder who forces Shire to make all of those ugly sounds is caught because he is a cab driver and Shire just happens to be his fare later in the movie and recognizes his voice.

Thirdly, and maybe this isn't a bad thing, for a violent movie about a crazed lesbian who likes to get knife happy, we see almost no violence.

We know that Ashley is attacking people with her trusty knife because of reaction shots (although I saw the movie on youtube and maybe the poster excised the violent scenes).

At the very least, you would think to expect a knockdown, drag out fight between Shire and Ashley. It doesn't happen. All Ashley does is verbally repeat the sounds of Shire's violation until the police come. Meanwhile Shire just looks at her and wonders no doubt how in the hell did she get saddled in such a nasty movie.

The following are clips from Windows:

Now if you want to see the entire movie, you can go to the youtube file here.

The Labor Day weekend holiday is upon us and wouldn't you know it? Peter LaBarbera does something nutsy.

The WWE has Wrestlemania.

The NFL has the Superbowl.

And Peter LaBarbera has Folsom Street Fair.

You can set your watch by it. Every time the San Francisco street fair rolls around, LaBarbera provides his version of publicity for the event by "condemning it." Then he goes to event, making sure to take pictures of alleged gross acts and providing "loving commentary" even sometimes informing us on the exact length of time those "freakie deakies" in said picture took to do the deed.

This year, LaBarbera takes the following quote from conservative radio so-and-so Michael Savage to make a ridiculous point:

“San Francisco is a microcosm of the illness called liberalism. It’s the least tolerant city in the country. It’s the meanest city in the country.”

I don't know about that. A city which hosts an alleged butt-naked festival doesn't necessarily strike me as intolerant.

But Michael Savage is the same person who lost his television show on MSNBC after telling a caller that he should catch AIDS and die.

So I guess if anyone knows about intolerance, it's him.

The Folsom Street Fair isn't exactly my cup of tea but apparently a lot of people (gay and straight - funny how LaBarbera always tries to omit the "heterosexual perversions" at Folsom) seem to enjoy it.

And in all honesty, LaBarbera seems to enjoy it too.

One of these days, somebody is going to take a picture of him attending these fairs. I wonder what he wears while in attendance, that is if he is dressed at all.

Editor's note - Never mind about that last sentence. Just writing it made me ill.

About Me

Alvin McEwen is 46-year-old African-American gay man who resides in Columbia, SC.
McEwen's blog, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, and writings have been mentioned by Americablog.com, Goodasyou.org, People for the American Way, PageOneQ.com, The Washington Post, Raw Story, The Advocate, Media Matters for America, Crooksandliars.com, Thinkprogress.org, Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, Melissa Harris-Perry, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, The Washington Blade, and Foxnews.com.
In addition, he is also a past contributor to Pam's House Blend,Justice For All, LGBTQ Nation, and Alternet.org. He is a present contributor to the Daily Kos and the Huffington Post,
He is the 2007 recipient of the Harriet Daniels Hancock Volunteer of the Year Award and the 2010 recipient of the Order of the Pink Palmetto from the SC Pride Movement as well as the 2009 recipient of the Audre Lorde/James Baldwin Civil Rights Activist Award from SC Black Pride. In addition, he is a three-time nominee of the Ed Madden Media Advocacy Award from SC Pride.